Occupation and work are regarded as important factors influencing the mental health of people. Although previous research has been conducted on the effects of job-related stressors on work, most studies focused on either the effects of physical workload or the effect of stressors within a certain job industry. This research analyses the effects of psychological job-related stressors on mental health care use, using the information on stressors across 67 different industries and tied to panel data on mental health care use and expenditures of the Dutch population from 2010 until 2016. This is done by using a fixed effects model with control variables on age and physical workload. This helps taking part of selection into account. Contrary to most literature, this study finds some proof that work pressure by itself has no effect on the mental health care use of employees. A precise zero is found for the effect of work pressure on the total mental health care use of individuals. Additionally, there is no evidence found on work pressure affecting the mental health care expenditures of individuals. Next to this, working in an industry with more autonomy seems to lead to higher mental health care utilization by employees. Finally, the combination of high work pressure and high autonomy appear to lead to a worsening mental health, on the contrary to Karasek’s demand-control model.

B. Ravesteijn
hdl.handle.net/2105/50529
Business Economics
Erasmus School of Economics

M.D. Budihardjo. (2019, December 20). The association between job-related psychological strain and mental health. Business Economics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/50529